Same speech, different stories: right hails Badenoch’s tax vision, left counts the welfare bill

Kemi Badenoch closed the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Wednesday with a set of tax commitments anchored by a pledge to remove family homes from inheritance tax entirely, in what she framed as a return to conviction politics after years of internal instability.

Under the proposals, no inheritance tax would be payable on a main residential property regardless of its value, provided it passes to direct or adopted descendants. The non-property threshold for individuals would rise from £325,000 to £500,000, meaning couples could transfer up to £1m in assets plus their home to the next generation without triggering a charge. The party cited Oxford Economics analysis in putting the cost at around £6bn in the 2029-30 financial year, to be funded through wider spending reductions the Conservatives say total £71bn, including £36bn from welfare. They project that the number of estates paying the tax would fall from around 52,000 to 22,000 under the plan.

The party argued that the case for action has grown more urgent: while fewer than 5% of deaths currently generate a tax liability, Conservative figures suggest that Labour’s decision to freeze thresholds means this could approach 9.5% of deaths by 2029-30. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp added that the practical impact is wider than the headline figure suggests because a single estate often has multiple beneficiaries.

A concern raised at a post-speech media briefing — that removing the tax incentive to downsize could reduce housing supply for younger buyers — was met with the party’s argument that scrapping stamp duty for buyers would more than offset any such effect.

Beyond the tax announcement, Badenoch pledged a tighter approach to welfare for those who have not found work within six months, a commitment to use half of any spending savings to reduce the deficit, and repeated calls for planning and energy system reform to unlock business investment. She took direct aim at Reform UK, saying its voters deserved better and making clear she regarded it as a political rival rather than a potential ally.

Labour accused the Conservatives of directing the benefits of their programme at the wealthiest. Reform said the speech demonstrated a lack of any real vision. The Liberal Democrats compared the fiscal approach to the 2022 mini-budget. The TUC said most households would never be affected by inheritance tax and had more pressing concerns.

Unless otherwise linked, headlines are from front pages on 08.09.2026